Apparently it's not just workplace dress codes that have gotten a little loosey-goosey in recent years. There's mounting evidence that good manners are also going the way of the fax machine.

Bad habits and rude behaviour at work seem to be getting worse.

In fact, the results of a recent survey by the world's largest specialized staffing firm where employees were asked to recount the "worst or wackiest" etiquette blunders they've witnessed in the workplace suggest cubicle farms are living up to their name.

Colleagues clipping fingernails at their desks, walking around barefoot, stealing each other's lunches, throwing tantrums, cussing within customers' earshot, forwarding inappropriate emails and photos, using their cellphones in the bathroom, purposely sneezing into the boss's coffee cup...

The anecdotes shared by survey respondents prompted Robert Half International, which has more than 400 locations worldwide, to produce a series of light-hearted cautionary videos titled Don't Let This Happen To You about the career-limiting (or -ending) potential of unprofessional, and just downright bad, behaviour.

The videos show office workers napping at their desk, laughing out loud while messaging on Facebook, stealing a clearly marked cupcake out of the communal fridge, making fun of clients and committing other faux pas that experts say can chip away at an employee's reputation.

"You always want to put your best foot forward, and if you're repeatedly committing these etiquette offences, it may show that you lack professionalism and common courtesy," says Tammy Boyko, branch manager for Robert Half International's Winnipeg operations.

The digital age has plenty of danger zones. Many of the most common etiquette breaches involve technology, says Boyko, such as spending too much time on Facebook at work or texting or taking calls on your Blackberry or iPhone in the middle of a meeting -- which is inappropriate whether it's work-related or not.

"In this day and age of Twitter and Facebook, you need to keep your work and your personal life very separate, and especially do not put anything negative about co-workers or customers out there."

As for matters of hygiene and grooming, Boyko says some people need to remember it's called "personal" care for a reason.

Never mind clipping your nails, even filing them in public can be considered rude. Just because you spend eight hours (at least) a day with your co-workers does not mean the relationship is an intimate one. Bodily functions should not be public events.

Grossing out your colleagues by making yourself a little too much at home at work is a far cry from workplace harassment or bullying, but some say a lack of consideration and basic manners is the thin edge of the wedge, and that workplace incivility is an under-reported problem that is only increasing in these tough economic times.

Many of us have become so accustomed to it, in fact, that boorish behaviour in the workplace goes by unnoticed, or doesn't even seem that rude anymore, says Lew Bayer, president and CEO of Winnipeg-based Civility Experts Worldwide.

"Our research shows that people are so tired and busy and stressed that they're picking their battles when it comes to rudeness," she says. "They might not say anything about sloppy dress or bad breath, but take a stand about rudeness that shows disrespect for time or for property -- wasting paper, keeping people waiting, spending 40 minutes in a meeting that should've taken 15, borrowing things without asking, returning items in a state of disrepair, using someone else's intellectual property."

There seems to be a shift toward holding people accountable when their rudeness impacts others long-term, Bayer says.

"It's like, I can walk away from your body odour, but I can't get back the nine minutes of my life that you wasted keeping me on hold."

In their 2009 book The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business and What To DoAboutIt, authors Christine Pearson and Christine Porath, both American business professors, say the problem of incivility in the workplace has been compounded by our increasing tolerance of nasty behaviour as a culture.

Based on a decade of research about workplace incivility, they concluded that petty incidences of workplace rudeness are exacting a "staggering economic toll," but that few business leaders know how to tackle the problem. In the book, they cite a 2005 Gallup poll where an astonishing 95 per cent of workers reported experiencing incivility from their co-workers.

People who experienced incivility were "affected deeply," they write, and "intentionally lowered their productivity, cut back work hours, lost respect for their bosses, put in minimal acceptable effort, and sometimes even left their jobs -- all because of disrespectful words or deeds."

The authors admit they initially wondered whether a "me-first" attitude on the part of some American workers might have skewered their perspectives, so they also gathered data north of the border. What they found, in fact, was that workplace experiences reported by Canadians were even worse -- fully 99 per cent of white-collar employees surveyed said they had witnessed incivility at work. One in four reported seeing it occur between colleagues on a daily basis.

When people are consistently rude, it's important to call them on it, says Bayer. If the issue is common courtesy, co-workers can usually address it themselves, she says, but if it involves actions potentially perceived as bullying or harassment, it's a good idea to get a third party, maybe someone from human resources, involved.

Management, meanwhile, should regularly review and update codes of conduct to ensure guidelines conform with current social, business and cultural trends, Bayer says.

"Although it takes a bit of time and money, it's usually far less expensive to train people how to be respectful, exercise best practices for civility at work and build effective communication than it is to pay -- for lawyers, low retention and poor service -- after the fact."

Farts and labour

We conducted our own informal survey to find out what kind of less-than-civil behaviour Winnipeggers are facing in the workplace. Here are some of the things that are bugging your co-workers:

"Re-heating and eating 'aromatic' foods at your desk. Onions and fish are the worst."

"One of our sales reps used to burp and toot so loud and never say 'excuse me.' It became kind of a joke around the office. When he did it, someone would yell out from their cubicle, 'Good one!'"

"Listening to loud tunes over headphones while sitting close to others in an open situation."

"Smokers who go outside to indulge and come back reeking."

"Leaving your dishes in the sink and not replacing paper towels or toilet paper."

"I had a co-worker who would report on the previous evening's bowel movement."

"One co-worker always brought very stinky lunches, such as fish, farmer's sausage and cabbage, and would set up out in the front reception area and dig in. Our office is small and the public stops in regularly."

"I used to work with a guy who would floss his teeth at his desk. Even worse, he'd leave the pieces of floss lying around."

"One that I find stomach-churning is tooth-brushing and yes, spitting out in the common area lunch room sink. Yuck."

"In my workplace, it is part of our daily routine to shake the crumbs out of the computer keyboards (we share workspace). Never mind the sticky stuff."

"Working in a non-cubicle, open office and using your computer speakers and microphone to Skype with your family back in Asia... every day."

"Clipping your nails at your desk."

"Bringing your work into the bathroom with you and then dropping your pen while sitting on the toilet and groping around on the floor furiously trying to find it."

"Sucking on lozenges loudly."

"The person who microwaves a bag of popcorn at 3 p.m. every afternoon and has to walk down the long hallway to their cubicle whilst the smell of edible oil product attaches itself to the worn fabric dividers..."

"Wearing too much perfume."

"Turning up the heat so high you'd melt, and hiding the radiator knob so you can't turn it down."

"A former colleague used to nod off during staff meetings, and at lunch. His wife was a supervisor at the same workplace and it was amusing to watch him snooze through a workshop she was presenting."

"Pounding the keys too hard on your keyboard."

"The person who comes to work with a full-blown cold and hasn't learned the fine art of sneezing into your elbow, and then tries to hand you a document their sneeze-receptacle hand has just touched."

"One of our male lawyers sent around a joke via email to 50 other lawyers in the office. It is clearly off-colour and inappropriate for the office. He ended up sending out a retraction soon after clicking 'send.'"

"I work with a man who goes to the gym to work out and then leaves his sweaty, stinky clothes draped over office chairs that are for common use. Totally disgusting and very unhygienic."

"A co-worker opens cans of oysters and clams and eats them at his desk. Then he dumps the cans in his garbage can."

"Talking too loudly on the phone and/or using speakerphone in a small area with other people around."

"Leaving old food in the staff fridge."

"People who text or read emails during meetings. They may hold their device under the table where it can't be seen, but then they'll get preoccupied and lose sight of their strategy. I mean, really, that facial expression doesn't jive with the current discussion on fiscal restraint."

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